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Q:

If an X-ray shows a surgeon left a foreign object in my body years after the surgery took place, can I still file a medical malpractice claim in Georgia?

A:

Your Peachtree City medical malpractice lawyer for surgical errors may help you file a claim even if an X-ray reveals a surgeon left a foreign object in your body years ago. It is important to be familiar with the statute of limitations in Georgia as it applies to these incidents, though.

When a foreign object is left in a patient’s body after surgery, the statute of limitations is one year after the object is discovered. So even if the surgery occurred years earlier, if you had no clue about the foreign object until an X-ray identified it later on, then you still have time to file a malpractice claim.

Foreign objects left in the body are more common that one might think. Some estimates put the rate at about one out of every 7,000 surgeries, although other studies indicate the problem is more rare. Most foreign objects that are left in the body are left in the abdominal cavity. Sponges and surgical instruments are the most common objects left.

If left inside the body, foreign objects can cause damage, including:

bacterial infections;

sepsis;

bowel obstructions; and

visceral perforations.

Additional surgery may be required to remove the foreign object. A Peachtree City medical malpractice lawyer for surgical errors will need to prove negligence and show how the foreign object was left in the body.

Although a malpractice case like this would appear to be easy to prove, the positioning of the object in an X-ray may prove otherwise. The defense could claim that the patient put the object in the body through swallowing or other means.

Contact a Peachtree City medical malpractice lawyer for surgical errors. He or she can help you file a malpractice claim for the surgical mistake. Contact the office of Jason R. Schultz today at (404) 474-0804.

Attorney Jason Schultz, a Georgia Super Lawyer in 2007/2009 has recovered millions of dollars for those families and individuals who have suffered catastrophic injuries and damages as a result of the medical negligence doctors and hospitals through misdiagnosis, failure to monitor, and surgical mistakes and errors.